


Virtue Revived

by WolfIsa



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Flashbacks, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other, Tragedy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 02:42:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19781611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfIsa/pseuds/WolfIsa
Summary: The story of a paladin and his squire traveling and building a bond and a tale of growing up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For a full profile of Efflam go here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E757inkMV6qGjpAXi0LPQJPU-R_zDuuPfKkfoxcoIR8/edit?usp=sharing  
> Tags will be updated if needed as story progresses

**Chapter One - When He Arrived**

I still don’t know how long I had been doing the ritual. Felt like days. My arms were so sore, I was so tired, it could have been weeks for all I know. I was so close to giving up but then...he showed up. 

I thought my prayer had been answered. He didn’t look like an assassin but in my tired daze and deep desire for revenge, I didn’t care what he looked like. He tried to explain that he wasn’t an assassin too; I didn’t listen. 

I begged him to kill Grelod. I wanted that vile witch dead. 

When he left, I thought my contract was finally taken. The relief was overwhelming that I guess I passed out. No idea for how long. When I woke up, I didn’t know how long I’d been out and he hadn’t returned yet. I ate some of the cheese that was still in the house and went back to sleep, still so tired. 

By the time I woke up again, he had returned. The man explained Grelod was dead and in my glee, I thanked him and even tried to hand him my family’s heirloom plate but he denied it. He sternly told me that he hadn’t even gone to Riften to kill Grelod but to find out why I wanted her dead so badly. When he got to Honorhall, he was disgusted to find how she spoke to the kids. He told me that he gave her a piece of his mind and threatened to turn the guard on her for her mistreatment. Guess she’d never had an adult tell her off so badly and in her anger, she died. He said her heart (though I’m pretty sure she never had one) gave out.

I tried to tell him even if he didn’t attack her, she was still dead thanks to him and once again tried to give him payment. He wouldn’t take it. 

He grabbed my shoulder, looked me in the eyes and told me, “One so young shouldn’t be so eager to deal in death like this.”

“What do you mean, mister?”

“Grelod was a terrible woman, yes, but her end shouldn’t have been wished so from you. She corrupted your heart but it, and you, can still be saved.”

I was so confused. I had no idea what he was talking about but then he offered for me to come with him. It wasn’t a hard choice. Not like I had a lot of options. It was either stay in my home...all alone or go back to the orphanage where all my bad memories were. The man didn’t seem so bad compared.

So, I went with him.

His name was Efflam Chevalier, but at the time I could only say his first name. Breton names were always so hard for me to pronounce at twelve. Efflam was a paladin; a holy knight from High Rock and he promised me a better life. Honestly, I thought he was going to adopt me at first but when I called him Pa, he corrected me. Told me to call him ‘sir’ or by his name. For awhile I felt pretty disappointed at that but he wasn’t a cruel man. Actually, he was one of the kindest souls I’d ever met. _He_ should’ve been Efflam the Kind.

I was so excited when Efflam took me to Whiterun. The city was so cool. I got to meet some of The Companions and I immediately liked them. Especially Farkas and Vilkas. When I learned they were twins, I also learned that Efflam was a triplet. He had a brother and sister.

“Did they look just like you?”

“Indeed.”

“So your sister looked like a boy?”

Efflam laughed, “No. She was very pretty. Katell was a Priestess of Mara in High Rock.”

“Was?”

His face fell and through a pained smile he explained, “She died many years ago.”

In my naive curiosity, I asked, “What happened?” 

“We don’t know, Aventus. But she was a wonderful woman.”

“What about your brother?”

“Gaël was a Vigilant of Stendarr right here in Skyrim. In fact, we both came here together after Katell passed away.”

“Is he out fighting vampires and werewolves and stuff?” I asked, excited to hear about his brother and maybe Efflam would cheer up but...his face was still just as sad.

“Unfortunately, no. The vampires got him not too long ago.”

Efflam must’ve noticed how hearing that both scared and saddened me and he ruffled my hair, “They were some tough vampires though to take my brother down. He was strong.” He then leaned in and whispered, “Probably way stronger than the twins,” while motioning over to Vilkas and Farkas across the room.

That got me to laugh but not much.

“What happened to the vampires?”

“I killed them all. My siblings may be dead but they’re not gone. They’re with me, always. And with their strength and my own, I was able to destroy them.”

“No way.”

“Yes way,” Efflam claimed.

He then told me all about the vampire attacks that had been happening not too long before I had escaped the orphanage. He told me about the Dawnguard and Serana and the vampire prophecy her father was obsessed with, about how he and Serana found Snow Elves, and even about how he got to meet the Dragonborn. Even now, I still enjoy the story but my twelve year old self was completely amazed.

After Efflam finished the story, he got serious. He turned to me and said, “But if they weren’t indulging in all that is evil, I would have left them be.”

That statement left me incredibly confused and dumbfounded. “But they were vampires. Monsters!”

“Serana’s a vampire and she wasn’t a monster. She’s a good woman and she helped save everyone.”

“Yeah but...they killed your brother…”

“They did, but, my brother was their enemy. I didn’t go after them as revenge for what they did to him since if it was the other way around, he’d have killed them just for being what they were. I killed them because they were murdering innocents. They lacked mercy, and saw humans and mer as merely food.”

“What does ‘they lacked mercy’ mean?”

“The vampires preyed on the weak, and the helpless and didn’t care that they couldn’t defend themselves.”

That night I got my first lesson on what it meant to be merciful and I learned just why Efflam was the kind of man he was.

The following day, I received a gift. Not from Efflam but from Farkas. A real sword. It was small for a two-handed blade, still heavy as hell but it fit my hands perfectly. According to Farkas, it was his first sword and if I was going to be traveling with Efflam, I needed to be able to fight. Efflam agreed. I spent most of the day just trying to hold the sword without dropping it. 

Then the next night, I was taken out to the courtyard where the training dummies were. My arms were sore and it was raining but Efflam still made me attack one of the dummies. He had me out there for hours and for the first few, I complained.

“You had to be hurting more when you were doing that ritual. Now, keep going!”

The more I complained, the longer he made me go at it. I started getting mad. Started crying. Told him he was being cruel and mean like Grelod. I regret it even now but he wasn’t phased by what I was yelling. Eventually, he said something that made me stop my whining.

“Then pretend that dummy is her.”

And I did. I pictured that withered old heartless wench standing there. Calling me worthless and pathetic and lazy and weak and...I went off on that dummy. I started wailing on it, slamming my sword against the wooden shield it held up, splintering the planks, slicing the fabric holding the straw inside its body, screaming so loudly it felt like my lungs were on fire. I no longer felt the pain in my body, it was all in my heart and with each swing of the blade, it lessened more and more.

Efflam let me keep going for Divines know how long. Until I couldn’t pick up my sword anymore. Couldn’t swing anymore.

Then he brought me inside, wrapped me in a fur by the big fire and sat next to me.

“One day, you will no longer be burdened by the memory of her, Aventus. Until then, use that fire to help people who suffer like you did as my Squire.”


	2. Chapter Two - His Protection

First order of business Efflam wanted to take care of was getting me a proper set of armor. When he asked me what kind I wanted I told him light so that ruled out Eorland as the man to make it, even though he offered despite me not being a Companion. In the end, Efflam decided the best place to get it would be from the Dawnguard. We took the carriage from Whiterun to Riften and before we went inside the city to rest, Efflam took me aside.

“We can camp in the woods instead, if you’d like, Aventus.”

“Why? Can’t you afford the inn?”

He chuckled, shaking his head, “Trust me, I can afford it. I just want to make sure you’re okay going back in to Riften. Grelod isn’t there anymore but it might bring up memories.”

The concern he held for how I felt even just going back to the city surprised me. What did I care? Grelod was dead, I was being taken on as a Squire and couldn’t be forced to go back to Honorhall. I told him as much and even though we entered the gates on my say, he still watched me the entire time with this worried look on his face. 

I guess it was warranted though as that night when we slept, I ended up having a terrible nightmare and waking up. Efflam looked like he hadn’t even gone to sleep yet and in my distress, I practically leapt over to him, crying into his shoulder-fur and making a complete mess of it. He didn’t say a word. Nothing about how it wasn’t manly, that crying was weak, or anything. I wasn’t pushed away either. He just...let me cry. 

The following day, I felt awful. Exhausted from lack of sleep and what little energy I had was sapped from my sobbing over the evening prior. Pity was taken on me and we didn’t leave for Fort Dawnguard just yet, however we remained in town to stock up on supplies and after receiving a letter from the courier, Efflam wanted to visit the temple to meditate. I tried joining him for that but I don’t know if it was my tiredness or the calming atmosphere of the temple but I ended up falling asleep on the bench beside him instead. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the middle of the night on one of the beds in the back of the temple. Somebody had carried me there and allowed me to rest. Efflam wasn’t in the room with me so I got up to find him. During my search, I overheard him and the priest talking and I hid to listen.

“Thank you again for agreeing, Maramal. Aventus is at least somewhat peaceful here.”

“Your gratitude isn’t necessary. The boy needs rest and comfort, and if Lady Mara’s presence allows him that then all the better. Why don’t you leave him here permanently? I’m sure he’d have a happy life as an acolyte?”

There was a pregnant pause before Efflam replied, “Unfortunately, I don’t think that would be best for him. You have to understand, when I found him, he was so hurt and so angry, he was performing that forsaken ritual, fully knowing he was wishing death upon another. I’ve not any idea how long he’d been at it but he looked as though he  _ himself _ was on death’s doorstep. Whatever that woman did to him gave him deep scars and his heart is full of a darkness that I don’t believe even Lady Mara can heal right now.”

“Surely you don’t think he’s fallen that far?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t be taking him as my Squire if I thought he was beyond salvation. I just...He has so much anger and pain that needs release. He has an inclination to violence and rather than squelch it or let it fester in to a worse sickness, I’d prefer he learn to channel it. I mean no offense, Maramal, but some of us need action to calm our hearts, and Aventus is one of these children. However, when I return if he’s chosen to stay I’ll allow it.”

“If you return,” the priest corrected, “You’re targeted by the Dark Brotherhood. You may not survive the encounter, my son.”

“It is a risk I must take. They want Aventus. If I don’t meet them, they could come after him directly. I don’t think they mean him harm in the conventional sense but I cannot and will not allow him to be raised to continue fostering that blemish in him.”

I bit my lip as I listened. Efflam was leaving me to confront the Dark Brotherhood? Why? It was then I remembered the letter he had gotten earlier. It must’ve been the Brotherhood contacting him. My suspicions were confirmed by what I heard next.

“It said he would be an asset to them. I don’t believe you just meeting them will convince them to give up on the boy. They  _ will _ try and kill you.”

“I won’t give Aventus to them to preserve myself, let them try. That boy deserves a life free of that kind of darkness.”

“Your heart is in the right place. Let us pray they cannot pierce it, my son.”

I prayed with them even though I never came out of hiding. I didn’t want Efflam to go, didn’t want him to die, didn’t want to be left at the temple, didn’t want to be alone. My prayers were wholly selfish but I didn’t know any other way to pray. 

After the prayers ended, Efflam left. I don’t know why I didn’t reveal myself and stop him or at least say goodbye. I guess I thought if I didn’t then I could pretend it was guaranteed he’d come back. I ended up rushing back to bed and acting like I was still asleep when Maramal came to check on me but really, I was scared and still praying. Still praying that Efflam would come back.


End file.
